I was born and raised on Vancouver Island.  What great, great memories of swimming lessons on the Parksville beaches in the summers, picnics at Sprout lake, and skiing at Mt Washington.  Ever appreciating all my experiences, I was always yearning to travel to different countries, and then I got my first opportunity with the Rotary exchange program to Finland.  After graduating with an Associates Degree from the now Vancouver Island University, that quest to learn about other cultures came to fruition in 1990 when I moved to Tokyo, Japan.  What was supposed to be six months turned into four years of travel throughout Japan and Asia with not much more than a backpack.  Learning Japanese was frustrating at times, but became a way of life. The Japanese have such a refined sense of aesthetics, which I have always been attracted to.  In the fourth year living in Japan, I again wanted to travel  and live in either Australia or the East Coast of the USA. So, I visited Australia, and thought Brisbane would be a good place to finish my Bachelor's degree. Then, I met  a friend in Tokyo who recommended I apply to a small liberal arts college in Pennsylvania, so I did, and there I went.  I studied at Ursinus College to finally achieve my Bachelor or Arts degree. Once again, I wanted to travel in the US, and moved to sunny California with some friends. After several years of living the California life, the relentless desire to travel kicked in again, and I had the opportunity to live and study in France. Studying at Alliance Francaise in Paris was probably the most amazing experience I've ever had, as I met students from all over the world.  At times there were students from Japan, and we would talk to each other in Japanese trying to figure out what the teacher was saying in French.  It was so much fun travelling throughout Europe for several years. All along all these journeys, I was snapping photos along the way. In 1999, reality had set in and it was time to really make an adult decision to pick a location to start a career. So, I returned to the East Coast of the US, and spent time meandering the arts communities in New York, New Hope, PA, and Philadelphia. I spent one more year studying an arts program at Lafayette College. There I learned to take a concept and turn it into "artwork."  We did pottery, drawing, painting and photography... and from that, came johnarmich.com!  I've never looked back since. I look forward to many new assignments here in the US, and Canada as well, and, who knows where else in the world...